- Jan 3 Josiah Wedgwood, English pottery designer and manufacturer (Wedgwood), dies at 64
- Jan 13 Francois-Joseph Krafft, composer, dies at 73
- Jan 19 Maria Teresa Agnesi, composer, dies at 74
- Jan 21 Samuel Wallis, English explorer (Wallis Island), dies at 66
- Jan 26 Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, composer and 5th son of Johann Sebastian Bach, dies at 62